


piano boy

by eri_zen



Series: episodic [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Holding Hands, It's all a metaphor, M/M, Metaphors, Multi, Music, Musical Instruments, it's about the yearning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-21 06:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21070301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_zen/pseuds/eri_zen
Summary: As day turns into night, and as summer turns into winter, Adrien helps Luka write a song.





	piano boy

**Author's Note:**

> Someone asked for fluff and I did the best I could as an angstlord  
I hope you like it!

He watched the falling of the red sun into the calm waters of the Seine. The night breeze had begun to spread its exploring hands over them, needy and greedy and breaking them from the mid-autumn scene.

"It was so nice out today," Luka said, leaning on the handrail, head in his hand. "Are you sure this is the earliest you can come?"

Beside him, Adrien sighed. "You know I need to sneak out if I'm going anywhere."

"It's quite the MO," Luka teased. "But really, you do know that's not normal, right?"

Adrien gripped the handrail tighter and steadied his breath.

"We've talked about this. I don't want to scratch the record tonight."

Luka looked over at him. With Adrien's soft face, framed with the hair getting mussed in the wind, with the glint of the dusk in his eyes, Adrien in all his slight movements and tiny perfections stood stark against the backdrop of the grimy walls of the canal.

Luka turned to him and extended a hand.

"Would you mind?"

He watched as Adrien scanned his expression.

"What do you mean?

"Your hand."

Adrien furrowed his brows. "Am I too close? I'm sorry, I could move further."

"Adrien, that's not it." Luka couldn't help but widen the smile he hadn't felt creep up. "I'm asking if I can hold your hand."

He watched Adrien's face blank for a moment. And for a second, maybe the orange light of the dying day had threatened to bestow some true clarity on him. But what Luka could tell was that, really, he was perfect.

There were lots of ways to be perfect, Luka figured. And surely, nobody could do it all the time.

But with the gears turning in his head and the crisp air of the changing seasons promising something - something - Luka figured this had to be it.

Luka recognized the look Adrien donned from there. He hoped it was something like the recognition of understanding. Maybe he only hoped he understood.

Luka kept his hand offered, palm up as he continued leaning on the rail.

Adrien was far enough away that he needed to step closer to reach him.

It as just a step, an outstretched hand.

The warmth of the body, and the cold of the wind stripping it.

The first, very initial touch, and the spread of recognition of skin and skin and cloth and nails.

And finally, as Adrien looked into his eyes, then that was that.

Luka smiled.

"Sorry if that was a bit forward."

"Oh, no," Adrien admitted, "It's probably better if you are. Apparently, I'm not very good at reading the mood and taking the initiative, at least according to Kagami."

"It's okay. You don't need to if it doesn't come easily."

Light rippled across the water and Luka began to hum.

"Is that the new melody you mentioned?" Adrien asked.

Luka paused. "Yeah. It's something I've been working on constantly for the past few days, but I just can't put my finger on what it needs. I can tell it's incomplete, and I might just need to wait for time to pass to know how I can spruce it up. I keep having these ideas for it but nothing seems quite right, so all I have is the basic motif."

"Then can I hear what you have so far?"

Luka hummed the beginning of the melody, but changed it on the repeat.

"No, that's not quite right."

Luka restarted from the beginning, and changed it a different way on the repeat.

"Sorry, I'm still not satisfied with it. Let me try again."

Luka restarted once more, changing the tune on the repeat again.

Finally, Adrien piped up. "Luka, there are only so many second chances you can get."

Luka chortled. "I just can't get it out of my head until it's done."

"Maybe I could I help. Hearing it with a guitar and keyboard might make it easier to settle it."

Luka smiled. "That might work."

He watched a tug of a smile.

"Start with an A minor seventh chord," Luka instructed, setting up the recording on his phone. "Can you figure out the chord progression from there?"

"I think so," Adrien replied, setting his hands in position on the keyboard. "You start?"

"You go ahead. Follow this beat."

Luka tapped his foot and bobbed his head lightly, rapping his guitar pick at the pick guard, feeling the thickness of the lower strings under chipped nails and calluses.

He tabbed out the melody as Adrien laid down the structure of the song.

The basic tune must have been in there - somewhere, Luka thought. Somewhere. Somewhere, he could find something that could work - something that felt right - something that called out to him.

They repeated the motif a few times, as Luka played around.

And then Adrien changed the progression.

Luka felt himself perk up at the change.

A minor 7. That stayed the same. Then E minor 7? He was skipping straight to the 5? And then what?

On the third repeat, Luka jumped back in with the melody. It almost worked.

There were some awkward dissonances at first, but Luka figured he could work with that, lean into it. The differences and near misses of a note. If he could just reach out and stand beside that discomfort until the beautiful resolution.

Disunity, then concord.

The challenge of style.

The twang of an unamplified guitar, so little when it could be so loud, under the cautious leadership of the curious pianist.

Their eyes met.

Luka changed the tune, and Adrien followed suit.

Luka replied once more as he continued the melody, with a modest crack at a vocal line. He could consider the lyrics another day, but something in him wanted to sing. Maybe it was for Adrien. Maybe he just didn't want to sing alone.

He closed his eyes and felt the sway of the song.

He felt waves of music lapping like waves in his mind, with the steady rocking of the boat underfoot and the swelling of a voice from a hum to the dawdling of something closer to a riff.

Eventually, he noticed that the piano had cut off.

"I didn't know you had such a nice voice, Luka," Adrien said, as Luka opened his eyes and grew quiet.

"Thanks, Adrien. I didn't know you could improv such an intriguing progression."

"Really?" Adrien replied, a blush just barely painting itself across his cheeks. "Thanks. I'm glad you liked it! I think I was really getting into it there, but it's not really like the solo pieces I usually play. I don't really play by ear very often, or ever, honestly."

"It could use some work, but I think I like what we've got so far," Luka said.

Adrien smiled.

"I think I like it a lot, actually."

Outside, the soft rain of the early autumn fell under a navy sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Not to be completely crude and vulgar on main but do you ever fantasize about h*lding h*nds briefly with someone you l*ke.  
And I won't bore you too much with some of the finer details of music theory, but usually you'll start at the root and won't skip straight to the 5 because the 5 has too much relative tension and it's just hard to build up from there, essentially, without resolving it. I hope that clarifies things if you needed it.  
Also I stan seventh chords, esp minor sevenths.
> 
> -
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! Comments and kudos bring me infinite joy.


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